Re: Cleave
- should I stay around or split?

: : I suspect that there are two entirely different word roots,
diametrically opposed in meaning, that have given rise to the somewhat archaic
English verb "to cleave". It can mean to cling or adhere - "For this cause shall
a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;" Mark 10:7 and numerous
other Biblical and religious examples. This form of the verb seems to have an
entirely regular declension - "I cleave, I have cleaved, I cleaved" and so on.

:
: Of course it can mean to split apart, usually with some vehemence - "to cleave
in two", "cleft asunder", "cloven", "a cleft in the rockface" and so on. This
verb, as is so common with verbs of motion, has an entirely irregular declension
- "I cleave, I have cloven, I cleft" and so on.

: : The word roots must therefore
be very different, but looking at the word formation, and particularly the "ea"
vowel string, I suspect that neither is Latin-based - they both just smell Germanic
to me. Can anyone confirm this, and when both verbs came into general use? Was
one later to the party than the other one? It's an unusual occurrence for such
a thing to happen and one can easily imagine major misunderstandings that might
have occurred - if there were sitcom writers in the days of yore, they'd have
had a field day with this, I am sure.

: ...and because it's way too early on
Sunday morning, it's just occurred to me that if Punk bands had been around with
the aforementioned sitcom writers in the Middle Ages, then the Clash's seminal
classic "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" could have been written with the far less
catchier title simply being "Should I Cleave?"

I wonder if the word entails
the idea of a whole being the sum of its parts. A man cleaves unto his wife, meaning
that the two of them become one. A cleaver is used to make parts out of something
that was previously whole. A woman's cleavage is all about the space between her
two breasts, which are nevertheless part of one body.